Somewhere between Jason Terry's 25-foot three pointer in the first half and Dwight Howard fouling out in the fourth quarter, Lakers realized this wasn't going to be their evening.

Jeff Green scored 19 points off the bench, while Terry and Kevin Garnett added 15 apiece for the Celtics who shot 53 percent from the field and led by as many as 32 points in the second half.

The Celtics won again despite missing all-star Rajon Rondo, who is out with a torn anterior cruciate ligament. Boston has won all six games since guard Rondo went down with the knee injury.

They are also without rookie starter Jared Sullinger, whose first season ended with back surgery.

The contest was hyped as a battle between two of the most storied franchises in the NBA but it ended up being a mismatch.

It marked the worst loss of the season for the Lakers, who fell behind 103-71 with 8:16 left in the fourth and looked listless despite getting centre Dwight Howard back. The Lakers came into the contest having won all three games Howard missed with a shoulder injury.

Howard was a non-factor against the Celtics, fouling out with just over five minutes left in the fourth. He finished with just nine points and nine rebounds.

Kobe Bryant had 27 points as the Lakers dropped to 3-2 on their seven-game road trip. It marked just the third time this season Bryant did not record an assist.

The Lakers got more bad news just prior to the opening tip off as they learned forward Pau Gasol suffered a tear of the plantar fascia -- on the bottom of his right foot -- and will be out for a minimum six to eight weeks.

Metta World Peace returned on Thursday from a one-game suspension but he looked out of sorts early and finished with just five points on two-of-13 shooting from the field in the loss.